Investigation leads to clarity, not clinical negligence claim

An investigation into the standard of care of the birth of a man from Cumbria finds that although there is no case for medical negligence, the family now has clarity about his health. 

Matthew Thompson was born in 2004 and following a series of complications during childbirth was later diagnosed with epilepsy and learning difficulties. In connection with these diagnoses, Thompson had an MRI scan that suggested that he had suffered a hypoxic brain injury (resulting from a reduced oxygen supply to the brain) when he was born. 

The report into the standard of care from an expert obstetrician and a neonatologist noted several missed opportunities to ensure Thompson’s delivery happened safely and to give his mother an emergency caesarean section when she did not respond to attempts to induce labour. 

The obstetrician observed that Matthew should have been delivered more than three hours earlier than he was. 

Two abnormalities 

A further report, requested by law firm Leigh Day and conducted by a neuroradiologist (a doctor specialising in imaging of the brain, spine and nervous system) found Thompson had two abnormalities that were previously missed by clinicians: an abnormality in the corpus callosum indicating mild callosal dysgenesis (a developmental malformation of the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres) and a signal change in the midbrain, most likely the result of a benign low-grade glioma (a type of brain tumour made up from supportive tissue of the brain). 

Neither of the abnormalities are linked to a hypoxic brain injury, but both could be the cause of Thompson’s epilepsy and it was possible that the glioma required treatment. 

Although a clinical negligence claim could not be pursued in this case and experts agree that diagnosing these abnormalities earlier would not have made a difference to the care Thomson received, the investigation conducted by Leigh Day has provided Thompson and his family with long-overdue clarity about his health and the opportunity to seek further medical investigations.

“I hope that the knowledge they have gained will improve the support and medical treatment that Matthew receives and also that the light we have shone on the mistakes made in the medical care [they] received improve the care that other patients receive,” said Leigh Day partner, Lauren Tully, who represented Thompson.